The Tale of Cain and Titus, Pt. 2
Part 2 of my friend and mine's RP. Hope you're enjoying it!
Part 1 here: https://www.sofurry.com/view/1569200
Titus tried to control his breathing and ignore the fierce and unforgiving heat that beset his body. His deep brown eyes blinked away the beads of sweat that fell from his forehead. It stung, but he was more worried about how it made his vision blur. He would need his wits about him when he encountered the beast.
He had noted odd signs as he walked through the jungle. At first, it seemed as full of life as any such area. Birds sang and monkeys chattered. Insects made their presence known. But as he trudged deeper, careful to keep from tripping on the many gnarled roots that threatened to send him tumbling to the ground, it grew eerily silent.
Years of hunting deadly beasts had given Titus a sixth-sense in such things. Despite the blistering warmth, a chill went through his well-built body, a tingle traveling up his spine telling him he was close. This had to be the part of the jungle the monster claimed as its own. High branches, thick and old, had been snapped like twigs. Did the beast live in the trees?
The villagers had been grateful but not very helpful. None had ever seen the creature and lived, save for the elders long ago. And when they had been questioned they said only that they were sworn to secrecy, a blank look on their faces and a haze in their eyes. The tale had not sat well with Titus. Even now, something felt wrong about this whole wretched jungle.
Titus swallowed his fear, fed on it. He had learned long ago that denying you were afraid was true cowardice. Real bravery required facing your fears and overcoming them. That was how a warrior grew stronger. That was what transformed mere men into heroes.
Suddenly, Titus' reverie was interrupted by the sudden removal of his helmet. His ears roared in protest as the metal was quickly and carelessly rubbed against them. The sweat his helmet had kept in place atop his scalp was sent jettisoning all around him, with some of it washing down over his forehead and the nape of his neck. Its cooling rivulets would almost have felt like relief had the circumstances been different.
As it was, he felt anything but relief. Falling immediately into instinct, he raised his shield and held his blade pointed forward as he spun about and searched quickly for his assailant. It took less than a second for his battle-trained mind to register there was no one behind him. He did not see his helmet either, which left only the canopies above.
It would seem his earlier hunch was accurate; whatever this creature was, it lurked above. Unfortunately, Titus knew that placed him at a distinct disadvantage. He raised his shield above his head, both for protection and also to block out the brightest of the sun's rays so he wouldn't be blinded. He clenched his teeth as his wide-set jaw quivered in anger.
"Show yourself, beast," he growled to himself as he slowly walked forward, ever keeping his eyes on the trees above, searching for any hint of his quarry. The leaves seemed to flutter out of time with what pitiful breeze the jungle offered. And Titus swore the sun's light seemed dimmer in places as if something was lurking behind the foliage and barricading its gaze.
Cain chuckled at the hero's reaction. The warrior hunk was on edge, his fighting senses at full attention. The snake's little game had clearly rattled the man, but still he persevered, showing that true bravery came from facing your fears. The snake loved this quality, and would use it to his advantage.
As Titus walked further and further into the jungle, the python caught him glancing up into the canopy, using his shield to block the bright sunlight. Slowly, the snake knew that the hero was catching on that he was in the beast's territory. Very few animals dared enter, and any who did were quickly eaten. The sun had a hard time peeking through the thick foliage above and it helped to conceal Cain's massive and powerful coils. The python observed the warrior in his fighting stance, still sweating up a storm, as his nerves seemed to rise.
Cain let out an audible chuckle. He wanted to make himself known to the man. But not quite yet. "Sssssso what do we have here? Lookssss like the village sent their ssssacrificcce fully clothed," Cain hissed, his voice resonating through the trees as if it came from everywhere. "Or maybe you aren't from the village? Perhapssss a warrior ssssent to sssslay the beasssst in the jungle," the snake said, his eerie and slick voice entering the warrior's ears. The snake's long body moved and shifted in the canopy above, making it seem as if the snake was everywhere all at once. Leaves fell here and there, making Cain chuckle as he watched Titus look back and forth as he spun slowly in a circle.
"How brave... how ssssstupid," the snake loudly growled. The voice seemed to be behind Titus, so when the man turned around swiftly, the python threw the helmet at Titus' head, hitting its mark with a force that knocked the hero onto the ground, but only for a second. But the second was all Cain needed as more coils descended from above and snatched the sword and shield, leaving the warrior weaponless. "Uh oh, lookssss like you lossst your toyssss there. Now what will you do?" Cain chuckled, as he watched the muscular man cub stand, angry and glaring in all directions.
Everything was happening too fast. First, a hissing voice seemingly rang out from everywhere at once. There was no doubt it was threatening him, but it had a certain teasing quality too, almost as if the damned creature was enjoying this!
And was it a creature? What manner of beast could speak the human tongue?! Maybe his enemy was a man like himself. If so, his task would likely be easier, but what man could live for hundreds of years and keep an entire village in fear of him? No, none of this made any sense.
Anger boiled inside Titus. He could stand being fought, even defeated in a fair fight, rare as that was. But he could not abide being mocked. If whatever he was now faced with could speak words, it could likely understand them too. So with a threatening flourish of his blade, he shouted out. "Cease your hiding, wretch! Face your end with honor. Show yourself!" he demanded.
His answer came from behind and as the warrior turned, ready to strike, he was suddenly jolted by a painful blow to the head. His vision blurred and he saw flashes of light as he felt himself fall backward onto the ground. He had started to regain his senses even as he fell and was able to quickly crawl backward and hoist himself back to his feet.
But his legs still trembled slightly, feeling like they had been partially turned to jelly. His head ached fiercely and he knew without feeling that there would be a knot where he'd been struck. He found himself dearly missing his helmet. But a quick glance around told him that his helmet had not missed him. He gritted his teeth and could have screamed in anger. The insult of being wounded by his own armor was too much!
But the sheer speed of events continued to overtake him. Even as he was standing and getting his bearings, dark blurs descended from the trees and snatched at his sword and shield. He tried vainly to grapple against the thieving... coils?!... but his grip was loosened from the earlier blow and the simple shock of the unfolding events left him slightly dumbstruck. In moments, Titus had lost both his weapon and primary defense.
Now he did scream. It was mostly from rage but also to banish his own fear. Could he really be facing a talking snake? The coils certainly looked serpentine. And if it could break thick branches, it had to be massive. For the first time, Titus quietly wondered if he was in over his head. The hero glanced at his helmet laying discarded some feet away. He debated whether he should try and retrieve it, but he had no doubt the serpent would try and stop him. In the end, he decided it was best to stay where he was and keep his eyes skyward.
"What will I do?! I will kill you with my bare hands, fiend. And when you're dead, I'll take back what is mine, along with your head!" he threatened, his voice cold and merciless. Titus could only hope his own uncertainty and anxiety did not show in his tone.
Cain chuckled at the strong-headed man's fierce attitude. The python had gotten a ruse out of the handsome human. Angry and sweaty, the snake was enjoying toying with the warrior. The snake had been careless however, and allowed the man cub to catch a glance at his thick coils. But Cain didn't let this stop him, and merely allowed the hero to wonder and ponder what was really going on.
The python knew the hero was confused and flushed with rage. And hearing his ugly words only made the snake want to play with the man cub more. "Kill me?" Cain asked, laughter in his voice. "With what? You have no ssssword, no protection. You think you stand a chancccce againsssst me?" the snake hissed. Slowly, coils lowered and began to push Titus around. Large coils, thick coils, thin coils, small coils, all sizes of Cain's body appeared and disappeared to touch and push the hero around. "Sssssee how powerful I am man cub? You think you can take me on? What a joke!" Cain said in a stern and commanding voice. His words were slick and demeaning, meant to bring down the man's confidences or anger him, either one. Cain had a habit of showing his dominance even before his victim was under his spell.
More leaves rustled and fell as Cain's body shifted above. This only showed Titus how large Cain really was. This was no ordinary python. And what the warrior didn't know, was that all the pushing and touching on his back and head, disoriented and led the man cub deeper into the snake's territory. Sunlight barely penetrated the thick leaves and left the ground the hero stood on dark and isolated. It seemed as if the warrior was alone. But he was anything but alone.
"You will take what'ssss yourssss?" Cain seemed to ask, watching the human spin around and around trying to locate the source of the moving voice. "Don't you know man cub? You... are now... mine," the snake said softly in an eerie whisper as he lowered his head and faced the armor-clad man cub.
The first time Titus was shoved around by a thick loop of coils, he assured himself that he had simply been taken by surprise. After all, he'd managed to hold open the jaws of fierce river-beasts; he'd faced howling winds while conquering the peaks of mountains; there was no reason why he should not be able to stand his ground when confronted by some overweight snake with an attitude problem.
So he rooted his stance and swore to push back against the serpent when it struck next. Instead, he was once more pushed around like a child's doll. The coils seemingly came from everywhere. By the time he stabilized himself and shifted his weight to compensate, another coil would strike from a different direction, turning his preparation into a liability.
Grunting in surprise and growing frustration, Titus noted too late that he was being herded - herded! - deeper into the jungle. His body began to ache from the repeated blows from the snake's body and his growing exhaustion and dizziness was not helping his splitting headache from the blow he'd taken from his own Gods-damned helmet.
By the time his enemy continued his threats, the warrior was almost too angry to feel any fear. His shoulders, shining with sweat, heaved up and down and his brown eyes shined with something dangerous. When the serpent finally showed its face, Titus could have marveled at how large it was. He could have felt some relief that his foe finally had a face. Instead, he let his rage guide him and immediately aimed a punch squarely at the beast's head. If he had to beat this arrogant worm to death, so be it!
Cain was more than happy to see the man perfectly now, as the snake made himself clear. He saw the warrior panting and flushed red; struggling to keep his balance as he was disoriented from all the hits and pushes. The man was wearing a chest plate, yet it was thin in the front, and exposed the man cub's nipple and the sides of his pecs, which the snake could tell were large and defined. Clad only in that with a skirt and sandals that wrapped around his strong calves and thick legs, Cain grew cocky and did not expect what came next.
"OUCH!" Cain yelled, as he felt the man's fist make contact with his snout. Despite the now obvious size of the python, Titus showed now fear, just anger, as his hand hit the snake with the force of a 1000 men.
Seeing stars, Cain shook his head and glared at the hunky hero. "How dare you?! You have jusssst ssssealed your fate!" Cain yelled, angry and annoyed. Quickly, some coils from above descended and wrapped around the man's right wrist which had punched the snake, and yanked him back. Cain was trying to speed the process of coiling Titus, but the warrior was known for his strength, so of course he would put up a fight. And as more coils shot at the hero, Cain again underestimated how easy this would be.
A savage satisfaction burned in Titus as he felt his fist strike the snake's face with the force of an earthquake. The warrior could not help but smile as he saw the serpent recoil and cry out in pain. His victory turned out to be short-lived though, as a coil from above looped tightly around his wrist.
But the hero was still riding the wave of euphoria that came from landing his first blow on the beast and now the heat of battle was upon him. There was a certain joy that great warriors took in conflict and now that his foe was no longer hiding amid the trees, they could fight in earnest. This was the struggle that Titus lived for; true, it was in helping others and protecting the innocent that he found true satisfaction, but it was in battle that he felt alive.
So when the creature yanked him backward, Titus dug his heels into the thick jungle earth to slow himself. When he came to a halt, he had enough leverage to strain mightily against the coil tugging at his wrist. His arm flexed, seeming to triple in size and girth as he managed to pull the beast's coil close enough to his other hand so that it could grab hold of the coil. He squeezed with all his considerable might. It must have caused the snake some pain, because the coil wrapped about his right wrist loosened enough for him to free himself.
With the battle filling Titus with renewed vigor, the warrior used his second wind to dodge a few more coils that shot in his direction. One seemed to be heading for his torso, but he managed to block it with both arms and kept it at bay. He even managed to push it back, his chest exploding within his armor until the bands that held the cuirass in place stretched and loosened. While Titus held back the main coil, another looped around his left arm. It moved quickly and indeed had to if it was to wrap around the expanse of bulging bicep that quivered from the contest.
The warrior grimaced. He knew that despite his strength he wouldn't be able to keep the coil aiming for his chest at bay with its twin viciously pulling on his arm. It may not have been the most honorable thing, but this was war and fairness rarely entered into the equation. Especially so when your enemy was a hellspawn beast. So Titus lunged and dug his teeth into the scales attacking his arm, biting down as hard as he could until he felt the coil retreat. Fiercely, he used the surprise to push away the main coil and charged at the serpent's head.
The hero dodged a few more coils and leaped at the last moment to close the gap. He caught the snake's head in his grip and wrestled it into a headlock. His nostrils flared and he growled from the exertion as he held the creature's head in place, his shoulder and arm ballooning with mass to lock in his foe and tighten the hold. The jostling was terrible, but Titus held firm. Still, he was no God. Sweat poured from his body and he heaved and panted from the exertion and try as he might to ignore it, his head still throbbed in pain.
But he fought on as best he could, genuinely trying to rip the beast's head from its body. "My fate..." he huffed, "is to rid the world of demons like you. And nothing will deny me that destiny!"
Cain truly had underestimated the warrior. The snake now found himself in a headlock in the man's beefy arms, struggling for breath and gasping in pain. The python replayed all the previous events in his head quickly, grimacing at how embarrassed he was. The man cub had not only dodged and blocked his coils, but this hero had the audacity to bite him and was able to shove away and free himself from an advancing horde of scales. Again, how embarrassing. The python didn't think he needed to use his full strength. Never had a human put up such a fight. But that only fueled the snake's anger, and brought out the wicked fire that burned deep within Cain's scaly body. However, a part of the man's resistance intrigued Cain. The handsome human had a lot of fight in him... and a lot of muscle. The hunky hero would be perfect for Cain's entertainment... and other such needs.
And lucky for the python, it appeared the warrior was growing weaker and weaker. The human was using all his strength to battle the powerful snake. His muscles clearly flexed and bulged to show the energy he was putting into their fight. Cain could smell the sweat, and see it glistening on his tanned skin. Clearly that heavy armor was taking a toll on his toned body due to the intense heat of the jungle.
Cain could hear the hero gasp for air and struggle to hold his ground as he maintained his choke hold. The snake shook violently, shifting the man's body around as he struggled to escape. Cain knew this was only tiring the human further, and began to smile as a wicked plan formed in his mind.
"Well brave warrior, I guessss you win thisss round," Cain sighed and ceased his struggling. Cain pretended to give up, and went limp in the man's strong arms. He could hear Titus' words of triumph and felt the hold slowly loosen. This was Cain's chance. With the man gloating and his attention diverted, he wasn't aware that the python was regaining his composure, and getting ready to strike again. Cain suddenly rammed a large portion of his body into the hero, pinning him to the ground. That same coil wrapped around his ankles and lifted him quickly into the air, shaking the hero's muscular body around like a limp rag doll. Cain was toying with the hero, and laughing wickedly at his victim's angry cries. More coils came and slammed into the warrior, knocking the wind out of him, and shoving him against tree after tree. This continued to weaken the man's cub body and mind, so when the time was right, there would be less resistance. Titus' yells and grunts of pain filled Cain's ears, making the snake want more, and filling him with glee.
Finally, a coil wrapped around the man's ankles and lifted him upside-down into the air. Another coil wrapped tightly around the man's waist, pinning his strong arms to his side. "It appearsss you did win the battle, man cub. But I won the war," Cain hissed as he eyed the upside-down and struggling human. Sweating and flushed red, Titus was clearly worn out and tired, as his hunky body glistened under the armor. "Now then... why don't you look into my eyes, man cub... and relaxxxx," Cain hissed, as he looked into the warrior's eyes and released an array of spiraling colors.